The show for fans of web comics by fans of web comics. Each week the DS crew discuss the state of comic art on the web. The show includes reviews, commentary, and interviews.

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Talking *to* webcomics – Part 2

In our celebration around the show’s 500th episode, we looked back at some of the Digital Strips interview Alumni – people who, since their appearance on the show, had gone on to either great webcomics success, or [INDEFINITE HIATUS].

Today, we’re going to have another look back on some of the names and personalities that have graced the Digital Strips airwaves in times past, and examining what these creators are up to today.

Ryan EstradaBefore he was a household comics name (well, maybe not before), cartoonist extraordinaire Ryan Estrada was on Episode 31 of Digital Strips! At the time, Ryan was travelling through Thailand, and used that experience as he did all others – to make comics.
Across the last decade, Ryan has produced comics illustrating his life and adventures in South Korea, India, Africa and almost everywhere else by the looks of it! Additionally, Ryan has produced comics in association with webcomics stalwart Hiveworks, DC’s Zuda program and is one of the many creators behind audio drama “Big Data“.

Gabe (Mike Kruhulik) and Tycho (Jerry Holkins)
Gabe and Tycho – or Mike and Jerry – of Penny Arcadeare possibly one of the most recognisable creative teams in the entirety of Webcomics. Honestly, I’m not sure we even need to dedicate this space to describing what they’ve been up to in the years since they appeared on the podcast. Besides continuing their powerhouse webcomic, the duo launched The Trenches in association with Scott Kurtz in 2011, produced the webcomics reality show Strip Search in 2013 (See our Searching for Strip Search blog series), have undergone numerous Kickstarters to bring their Automataand Thornwatch series to life, as well as running various incarnations of their Dungeons and Dragons adventures under the banner of Acquisitions Incorporated.
At the time of their interview, Mike and Jerry had just undertaken the first “Penny Arcade Expo” – a gaming convention which has since exploded from the 3000 attendees that year, to a multi-national convention that boasts hundreds of thousands of attendees across its multiple locations and days every year.

Ryan Sohmer and Lar DeSouzaTaking place shortly after the great Lartist had joined the BlindFerret creative team for Least I Could Do, the 2005 interview with Ryan Sohmer and Lar deSouza predicted the beginning of an enduring partnership! Thirteen years later, the creative duo have a long history of webcomics under their belt, from the continued success of their flagship comic, to the continuing associated achievements of the adventuring Looking for Group D&D/WoW inspired webcomic, to their editorialised commentary on the mainstream comics industry through The Gutters, which ran from 2010 to the end of 2014. Ryan and Law are also the creative forces behind Blind Ferret’s forays into animation, which led to such gems as “Slaughter your World” and the… umm… experiment which was Ctrl+alt+Del’s foray into animation.

Bill Charbonneau
After the incredible success stories of the preceding artists, our catch-up on Bill Charbonneau is a little pale by comparison. The author of Zoinks! webcomics magazine seems to have disappeared off the internet entirely, and the link to the site mentioned in the interview now leads to a 404 address… so, not sure what Bill has been up to in the years past, nor what ended up happening to the magazine!

Do you know what happened to Bill’s magazine? If you do, please don’t hesitate to drop a not in the comments or let us know over on Twitter, and until next time remember: don’t eat the clickbait!